de forest



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T; B, DE FORESTQ Lantern. I

Patented March 27,1860.

Sheet 2.

2 Sheets T. B. DE FOREST.

Lantern.

Patented March 27, 1860.

No. 27,666. I

N. PETERS. Phowumn m her. Washmgtcm D. C

UNITED STAllES Par f. FFICE.

THOMAS B. DE FOREST, OF NEW/V YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, ANDWALLACE & SONS, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

LANTERN.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 27,666, dated March 27, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. DE FOREST, of New York city, in the Stateof New York, have invented a new and useful Method of Making Lanterns;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsand to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates particularly to round lanterns (as distinguishedfrom square or other polygonally formed lanterns, in which each side isformed of a separate glass) and has for its object the construction ofthis kind of lantern, in such a manner that all its clifferent partsshall be securely and in a simple manner united together by means oftheir peculiar construction and combination, without the employment ofany soldering or other cementing material and without riveting; but insuch a manner, as to be capable of being readily detached from eachother and reunited, while, when together, a more durable and desirablearticle is formed, than has heretofore been manufactured. And myinvention has for a further object a more economical and desirablemethod of attaching and forming the handle of the lantern, and to theseends my invention consists in connecting the upper and lower ends of thevertical guard wires with the upper and lower metallic cases (or the topand base) of the. lantern by means of bending said ends of said wiresinto suitable shapes to interlock with annular securing bands or keyingflange pieces, which are employed in connect-ion with the metallic topand bottom portions of the lantern, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained. And my invention further consists in forming an eye in eachof the vertical guard wires by bending, or forming it (around a mandrelor in any other suit-able way) for the reception of the encirclinghorizontal guard wire, whereby said encircling horizontal guard wire isretained in its proper relative position with the vertical guard wireswithout being soldered, or otherwise fastened to them. And my inventionfurther consists in so arranging the encircling horizontal guard wirewith the vertical guard wires that it shall be capable of sliding intothe eyes of the former, and in connecting its ends by a thumb nut(coupling nut) whereby the circumference of the circle it forms may beincreased or diminished for the purpose of bracing all the guard wiresfirmly in their relative positions with each other and with the otherparts of the apparatus, as will be more fully eX- plained hereafter. Andmy invention further consists in connecting the handle to the cap orupper casing of the lantern by a single piece of wire, or itsequivalent, so bent or formed as that its lower ends may be pressedtogether and passed down through the opening in the cap and will thendistend and catch under said cap, as will be presently explained. And myinvention consists finally in forming the handle of a strip of sheetmetal bent into a circular form and its ends united by a screw or bolt,and in forming in the lower portion of said handle a depression for thereception of the connecting link, whereby the handle of the lantern isalways retained in a position which renders it convenient to grasp withthe hand.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe some of the modes in which I have practiced it,referring to the accompanying .drawings forming part of thisspecification.

Figure 1, represents an isometrical view of a lantern constructed aftermy invention. Fig. 2, represents a vertical section through the centerof the same. Fig. 3, is a section similar to Fig. 2, of anothermodification of my invention. Fig. 3, is a partial veu tical section,showing the upper portion of another mode of applying my invention. Fig.5, is a partial vertical section showing the upper portion of anothermode of applying my invention and Fig. 6, is a vertical section throughthe center of the handle of the lantern.

In Figs. 1, and 2, A, F, F, represent the lower case or metallic portionof the lan tern, and c, g, h, the upper case.

B, is the glass.

(1, are the vertical guard wires and, 7), is the encircling orenclasping guard wire and, 0, its coupling nut, E, is the protector.

D, is the handle by which the apparatus is carried and, 0, is theconnecting link by which the apparatus is attached or united to thehandle D.

The bottom piece A may be cast of iron or made of sheet metal struck orspun up the annular piece F may be made of sheet metal, and isrepresented as being secured to the base A, by screw bolt, m, this pieceF is of the proper diameter to accommodate the lower end of the glass,B, the lower head (5 of which rests on its upper edge which is turnedover to form a rounded seat for it (as seen at a: Fig. 2). In theannular piece F near its lower edge are a number of holes, one for eachvertical guard wire, a, and the lower ends of said guard wires a, are soformed that each runs down against the outer surface of the piece F tonear its lower edge, and then bent at right angles enters one of thesaid holes in said piece, and the vertical guard wires, a, are retainedin this position at their lower ends by an encircling band, F, whichsurrounds them, said band, F, having formed on its inner surface aseries of depressions, Z, to accommodate the said guard wires, and atthe same time lay flush against the outer surface of the piece F g, is ahat shaped metallic piece which is of suitable diameter to receive theupper end of the glass B, and the brim or lower flange of which rests onthe upper head i of said glass the top of the piece, 9, is somewhatconvex, and is open at its center, thus forming a deflector of the heatand combusted material which rises from the lamp: said piece, 9, like toF is provided with a series of holes to receive the upper and bent endsof the guard wires, a, which are retained by a surrounding band, h,formed with recesses, 2', to accommodate the wires, a, and with an upperflange which projects over the top edge of piece, 9, embracing betweenit and top edge of said piece the bottom flange of a cap C:the cap C,piece, g, and band, it, being all secured together by screw bolts, 1'.The protector, E, is of an inverted disk form, and has cut in its top aslot, sufliciently long to allow it to drop down on to the projectingparts, 0 of the link, 0. Said link or connecting piece is formed of asingle piece of wire, bent into the shape illustrated, and its endssprung into the holes in cap, C, and deflector cap, 9, (as seen at Fig.2). The handle is formed of a sheet of strip metal bent round, and itstwo ends secured together, by a screw and nut, 61, (see Figs. 1 and 6)and its edges around that portion which is grasped by the hand (at, f,)turned over or secured to be more comfortably handled. Near where thetwo ends of the handle are united is formed a loop, 6, to accommodatethe upper end of the link, 0.

In the modification illustrated at Fig. 3, the lower ends of thevertical guard wires, a, have one more bend than those seen in Figs. 1and 2, (as seen at, (E, Fig. 3), and the glass retainer F 2 instead ofhaving simple round holes to receive the guard-wires as in Figs. 1 and2, has vertical slots 0 sufliciently long for the bent portions, (4*, ofthe guard wires to pass horizontally through, and said guard wires areretained or locked in their proper position by an annular flange plateG, the flange of which passes up between the bentportion, a, of saidguard wires and the inner surface of the retainer F and is there securedto said piece F by screws or bolts, n, and in this modification of myinvention, the upper portion of the lantern is differently formed andthe upper ends of the guard wires diiferently secured, though, upon thesame principle the upper retainer or glass cap g extends only a veryshort distance above the top of the glass and has not the guard wirescoupled with it as in Figs. 1 and 2said guard wires being in thisinstance bent over the top edge of said cap 9 (and embracing betweenthem and the said caps top edge, the foot flange of the top cap piece C)and then bent upward a short distance and retained by an encircling bandor simple collars, which comes down on to the part, a of said wires andhas notches cut on its internal circumference to accommodate or receivethe bent up ends of said wires :the end of the guard wires, the cap, C,the cap piece, 9 and collars, 8, being all secured together by two ormore small screws, 6 which pass through collar, .9, and foot flange ofcap, 6, and into piece, g -the cap C here is illustrated as having acollar or shell C projecting inward from the top hole and the ends 0 ofthe connecting link, 0, as being caught under the lower edge of saidcollar, C the method forming the can, C, and attaching the clips of theconnecting link 0 renders unnecessary theformation of any collar orshell on the deflecting top part of piece, 9 which I think an advantageover the method shown at Figs. 1 and 2.

At Fig. 4, is illustrated another mode of applying my invention. Thisfigure represents only the upper portion of .the lantern, and shows theupper ends of the guard wires as bent somewhat in the form of a hook,and passing in through one hole, and out through another made in thecap, C, (after the fashion of a stick) and retained by the glassreceiver and deflector, 9

In the modification illustrated at Fig. 5, the whole of the upper caseor metallic portion of the lantern is formed of one single piece, C,which is so formed as to come down on the head of and embraces the upperend of the glass, B, as seen at g. It also is formed with the internalcollar 9 to receive the connecting link and with an annular depressionat g and a series of holes near its shoulder, 2'. The guard wires, a,are bent to conform to the depression, g, and then turned at rightangles into the holes at, a immediately below the shoulder at 2' whileat the depression 9 is wound around the whole (externally) fine wrappingwire, .2, which ties the guard wires, a, securely to the cap, C, theybeing prevented from changing their distance apart by means of theirupper ends being held in the holes at, a

Fig. 6, illustrates particularly the formation of the handle, I), formedof sheet metal, and with a loop at, e, the part, i, is rolled over tomake the upper portion of the handle more comfortable to grasp.

By forming the handle D of sheet metal as shown with a loop, 6, and itsends united by a screw bolt, said handle when released cannot dropentirely over to one side as the ordinary wire handles do, while at thesame time it may be readily detached from the apparatus and is aseconomically made as those now in use and more durable. It has beencustomary in the construction of lanterns to attach the handles by meansof a wire connecting link or piece, but in every instance a securing pinor key or other fastening has been employed to unite said link to thelantern. In my invention or improved lantern, it will be seen that saidlink is connected or united by means of its own peculiar shape; withoutthe aid of any auxiliary piece, thus rendering the apparatus in thisrespect, more simple and less costly, while, at the same time, the linkby being sprung into the annular shell C (as represented at Fig. 3) isretained more fully and rigidly than by the usual method of attaching itto the cap of the lantern. Previous to my invention the vertical guardwires have been soldered to the encircling guard wire, but in myimproved apparatus the necessity of soldering or otherwise fastening thevertical guard wires to the encircling guard tire is renderedunnecessary wiile, at the same time they are more durably andeHect-ually braced by said encircling or horizontal guard wire by meansof the eye (formed by simply bending the vertical guards) through whichthe horizontal guard passes as before explained. By forming the eyes ajust large enough to admit the guard, Z), freely, said horizontal guard,b, may be distended or contracted as before mentioned by means of itsdouble threaded coupling nut, 0, whereby the guards may be all braced uptightly together after the apparatus is put together. In lanternsheretofore manufactured the upper or lower ends, or both of the verticalguard-wires have been either soldered or riveted to the top and bottommetallic portion of the lantern, but in the construction of my improvedapparatus, no soldering or other cementing nor any riveting process isemployed, the ends of the guard wires themselves, being so bent orformed as that in connection with suitably constructed top and bottommetallic portions of the lantern (substantially as hereinbeforedescribed) they may be readily and eifectually united to the upper andlower parts of the lantern by being keyed or otherwise locked to them.It will be observed that my invention in this feature of the apparatusis subject to many modifications, without departing from its spirit,since the gist of my invention consists in so making the differentparts, that the whole may be formed without the aid of solderingcementing or riveting. It may be remarked in lieu of forming the eyes ain the vertical guards, they might be formed in the horizontal guard,but this mode I do not consider as practical as the one I have shown anddescribed in this application.

Having described the nature of my invention and the manner in which itmay be put into practice and not wishing to limit it to the precisedetails of construction shown and described, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Connecting the ends of thevertical guard wires, to the top and bottom portions of the lantern bybending them into such form as to interlock with said top and bottomparts and be secured thereto by encircling, or keying bands, or theirequivalents substantially in the manner herein set forth. 2. I alsoclaim so bending the vertical guard wires as to form in them eyes asdescribed; in combination, with the encircling horizontal guard wirepassing through the said eyes, the whole constructed and operatingsubstantially as specified, for the purposes set forth.

3. I also claim arranging the encircling guard wire, Z), in such manneras to be capable of sliding circumferentially in its bearings in thevertical guards; in combination with the coupling nut, 0, so connectedwith said guard, b, that by turning it, the said guard wire may bedistended, or contracted, substantially as set forth for the purposesdescribed.

4. I also claim in combination with the top cap of the lantern andhandle the connecting link, 0, so formed, of a single piece of wire, asto effectually connect or couple the lantern cap to the handle andproperly support the protector, without the aid of any coupling pins orother auxiliary partas hereinbefore explained.

5. I also claim forming in the handle, when made of flat metal, a loop,6, to operate in connection with the upper end of the link, 0, asspecified for the purpose set forth.

THOMAS B. DE FOREST.

itnesses C. F. VVETMORE, Hoaacn ANDREWS.

